All articles by Patrick Frater – Page 56
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Cannes: Marche death reports greatly exaggerated
Predictions of a Cannes with no sales have not lived down to the pessimists' gloomiest predictions. But buyers and sellers alike describe a market that has been at best patchy.Despite Cannes Market's official figures claiming to demonstrate more screenings, more companies in attendance and more executives, there can scarcely be ...
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Mifed pulls the plug on Milan Selected Screenings
Mifed has cancelled the Milan Selected Screenings in response to industry pressure."We took the decision following AFM, where buyers told us that this was not useful," said Giuseppe Zola, president of Mifed organiser, Rassegne. "Buyers want to minimise the time on the road and preferred to be in Mifed proper." ...
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Fortissimo picks up two more titles
Already one of the busiest sellers this Cannes, Fortissimo Film Sales has added two more films to its slate, including its first US investment.Party Monster, to be written and directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato of The Eyes Of Tammy Faye fame, is produced by Christine Vachon's Killer Films ...
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Premiere Kino signs with Capitol, Franchise
Russian group Premiere Kino Holding has secured a clutch of A-grade all rights deals which bolster the company's position as a powerhouse distributor and underline the country's recovering potential as a film market.Through its sister company Era Media, which has all Eastern European rights, Premiere Kino is finalising the acquisition ...
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Cinema Service takes on trio of big budget pics
Expanding the tide of Korean sci-fi and gangster pictures, Korean major Cinema Service has added a trio of big-budget pictures to its forthcoming slate. It is finishing Volcano High School a futuristic action comedy due for delivery in December 'It is a stylish picture with excellent production values situated between ...
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Tokuma mounts new project from Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Tokuma International has moved quickly to capitalise on the intense heat surrounding Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, following the acclaimed Un Certain regard screening of his Pulse (aka Kairo).Tokuma is to handle world sales on his next directorial effort, an untitled drama about the uneasy relationship between two men. ...
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Chan, Hung replace Hudlin on EMG's Highbinders
Hong Kong star directors Gordon Chan and Sammo Hung are to jointly replace Reggie Hudlin behind the camera on The Highbinders, a $35m sci-fi action adventure that breaks the international financing mould by being structured as a Hong Kong-Irish co-production. Jackie Chan is attached to star in this English-language project, ...
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Thai cinema kickboxes Cannes as Miramax buys Tiger
In the first pre-emptive purchase of this year's Cannes, Miramax Films has bought North American, Latin American, Scandinavian and South African rights to super-hot Un Certain Regard film Tears Of The Black Tiger (Fata Lai Jone). The swoop comes amid surging international buying interest in Thai cinema here at the ...
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Venice chief downplays festival rivalry
Venice festival chief Alberto Barbera yesterday moved to play down suggestions of difficult relations between the three major festivals Cannes, Berlin and Venice.'I have great respect and excellent relations with [Cannes president] Gilles Jacob based on mutual respect,' said Barbera. 'I don't think that the natural competition between festivals should ...
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Fortissimo clinches string of pre-Cannes deals
Hong Kong-Dutch sales powerhouse Fortissimo has clinched a string of pre-market sales on its roster of festival films. The deals come as Fortissimo has just secured a major coup in selling last year's Cannes competition film Devils On The Doorstep to Japan's Gaga Films. The film from mainland Chinese director ...
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Amelie dropped for surprise Cannes film
A surprise film is to replace the outdoor screening on Sunday (May 13) of local hit Amelie From Montmartre, which has been cancelled.Amelie was shoehorned into the festival after pressure from its producer and other Cannes leading lights, who upbraided the selectors for its non-inclusion. Cannes' artistic director Thierry Fremaux ...
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Film Co adds pair to Cannes starting line-up
On the eve of Cannes, UK sales outfit The Film Company has added titles from Rob Green and John Luessenhop to its slate.Green's The Bunker stars Jason Flemyng, Jack Davenport and Christopher Fairbank and is a drama about trapped German soldiers during WWII. It is produced by Daniel Figuero for ...
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Fortissimo strike early sales for Taiwanese pair
Indie distribution powerhouse Fortissimo yesterday scored a trio of sales on each of its two Cannes competition films from Taiwan, Millennium Mambo and What Time Is it There'Hou Hsiao-hsien's Mambo was sold to Les Films de l'Elysees for Benelux, Prooptiki for Creece and to Classic Films for Italy, the latter ...
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Universal Studios launches short films initiative
Three British film critics were today (May 3)given a taste of their own medicine. Kim Newman, Nick Bradshaw and Jessica Mellor were each given a producer, a film crew and just 24 hours to come up with a short film lasting not more than 100 seconds.The stunt marked the launch ...
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USA Films to unleash Pandaemonium in America
Barry Diller's USA Films has picked up US rights to Julien Temple's Pandaemonium, a romantic drama about 19th Century English poets Coleridge and Wordsworth.The John Hannah, Linus Roache and Samantha Morton-starring picture was sold by Etchie Stroh's Moonstone Entertainment. It premiered at Toronto last year and is now on ...
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French exhibs raise cost of loyalty cards
French exhibitors MK2 and Gaumont are to increase the price of their cinema loyalty card Le Pass from $13.48 (FF98) to $16.23 (FF118) as of June.The move is the latest development in the bitter battle being fought for market share by France's exhibition groups. Loyalty cards, introduced first by UGC, ...
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Admissions climb in EU, but Europe's share tumbles
Overall cinema admissions in Europe grew by 36 million or 4.4% last year. That contrasts with the trend in the US last year where admissions fell by 3%.But the market share achieved by European-made films dropped from 29.2% to 22.5%, a thumping fall of 46 million from 236 million to ...
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Columbia buys Shiri for North and South America
Shiri, the blockbuster Korean spy movie, has been bought by Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group (CTMPG) for North America and Latin America.The deal, which is expected to be confirmed today, is the first Korean picture to be handled by CTMPG.The film, which was top grossing film in Korea in 1999, ...
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Les Visiteurs cause heavy losses at Gaumont
Beleaguered French major, Gaumont announced plans to produce some ten films over the next 18 months as it concentrates its efforts on production and distribution. But two of its big productions forced the company into massive losses for last year.Gaumont announced net losses of $60.1m (FF437m) compared with a profit ...
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Amelie charms French audiences across Europe
UGC International's Amelie From Montmartre opened well in French-speaking Europe, making Cannes selector Thierry Fremaux's decision to programme the film as a special open-air screening a popular one.Handled by UFD, the Jean-Pierre Jeunet-directed charmer achieved 125,000 admissions from 432 copies on the first day on nationwide French release, giving a ...